The Longest Road
by XxKyuubiRoxX
Summary: An ordinary girl learns that she has been selected to be a part of a secret military group and gets thrown into many dangerous situations. This story has been ABANDONED! just in case you could't tell... P
1. Something Different and a New Start

Before we begin, I want to share some of my ideas for this story. The original idea popped into my head shortly after I finished reading some of the Sigma Force books by James Rollins. They were definitely the main inspiration for this fiction. The entire idea of covert ops in the American government was extremely entertaining and I wanted to put my own spin on it. If you haven't read these books, though, don't worry because I will explain Sigma in my story to the best of my ability, and build my own masterpiece from it.

Moving on, I am an extremely lazy and unmotivated person, so if I'm taking forever and a day to update feel free to yell at me to get me working. That's what my English teacher does. Also, of you have any questions, comments, or suggestions I will be completely willing to answer them. Remember, this is my first story, and I have a terrible habit of putting myself down so any critique (good or bad) will be appreciated. Although, I'm not going to be one of those authors that expects rates or messages or else no updates or something ridiculous like that. If you want to comment that is your own choice and I'm not going to expect anything more.

Thank you for your bravery at trying to read my rambling thoughts! If you are actually reading this and not just skipping to the story you deserve a cookie. To end this so I can let you get to the prologue, I just want to say that I am going to try and keep this from being as cliché as I possibly can. Though, I might fail miserably! Also, if my character starts to seem too May Sue please tell me so I can fix that. Those kinds of characters seriously bother me, and they probably bother you too. Finally, I cuss. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but it's going to happen. If I cuss, my character is going to cuss too, but I suppose if I receive enough messages saying how terribly awful the f bomb is, and that I should never use it ever again, then I'll take it easy. Ok, well I'm finished rambling; therefore, I'll start the story now!

"_Sergeant Major Storm?" I hear a voice from behind me. I turn around and come face to face with my commanding officer, First Lieutenant Peter. I salute him out of respect. Not that he really deserves it._

"_Yes sir?" I reply. _

"_Meet me in my office at 1800 tonight. There is a letter from back home for you that I would like to discuss." I look at him in confusion._

"_Yes sir, I'll be there." He nods and walks away. Short, straight, and to the point is the only way that man communicates. I sigh to myself as I look outside our military base. There was nothing out there but the hot, horrid climate that makes up most of the Middle East. "I would do just about anything to get out of here at this point," I think to myself. _

_The last few years have nearly brought me to my breaking point. Sure, I had risen up the ranks rather quickly, so accommodations were much better than when I was a Private, but working with some of these people has almost gotten me to believe that I should have stayed with a desk job. Peter was a fine example of that. Cold, careless, and just plain rude, it was a complete mystery as to how that boy got to a Lieutenants position. I'm so not looking forward to that meeting. Though, I am really curious about the letter. Why would he 'like to discuss' it with me? Oh the joys of the military. Who wants personal space when you can have everyone know all of your deeply hidden secrets? _

_Thinking about that, I really hope it isn't from my mother. She knows about my dislike of Peter, and isn't afraid to bring it up in her letters to me. The last one said something along the lines of, "Just kick that damn douche bag in the nuts sweetie! Make him sing soprano for the rest of his life and you will forever be my favorite child." Among other things I can't recall at the moment. Though, her favorite child remark made me laugh, I am her __**only**__ child. I love my mom, but sometimes, I'm under the impression that she smoked way to much weed in her hippie days._

_I looked at the clock. "I better start my way over there or I'll be late, and we certainly don't want that," I say to no one in particular as I walk over to the Lieutenant's tent deemed 'The Office'. I looked at my trustable watch just as it turned six. "Well let's get this over with," I say to myself with a deep breath._

"_Ah, Sergeant Storm Graves, I hoped you weren't going to be late. I'd much rather start our conversation tonight on friendly terms," he says as I walk in. I resist the urge to roll my eyes._

"_I agree sir, now, what was it you wanted to discuss?" _

"_I would prefer to keep this as brief as possible, so here is the letter I received yesterday." He handed me a large manila envelope with a strange symbol on the front. It looked similar to an E in appearance, but, unless someone was into abstract calligraphy, I don't think that was what it was meant to be. I opened it cautiously and pulled out a very small packet of papers. On the first page it read:_

To whom it may concern,

After much investigation, we are aware of a member of your regiment that has shown much promise with her abilities. We would be honored if you would allow Sergeant Major Storm Graves to meet with us back in Washington D.C at our headquarters there. All of the information is enclosed inside of this letter, as you will find. Though, we are not under the obligation to explain who we are at this time, over such unreliable means of communication.

_The letter only got stranger from there. Who the hell is this, and why do they want me of all people to join their ranks? The signature was the same strange symbol that was on the front of the envelope. "I wonder what it means," I think to myself. On the next page it displayed a time and meeting place for this strange group. _

_Peter started speaking at this point. "If it helps with your decision, I believe it would be best if you got out of our way here and went to that conference. Whoever they are, they seem to think you would be helpful to them." Well don't I feel loved._

"_Thanks for the comment," I reply, "I think this would be a wonderful opportunity." At this, I walked out of 'The Office' with the envelope still clutched in my hand. _


	2. Into the Lion's Den

~Chapter 1~

I looked at my watch for what was probably the tenth time in the last thirty minutes. My appointment was supposed to start at 1:00pm sharp. It was now 1:33pm. Why was I chosen to come? I still have no clue what so ever. I sigh while I look up at the building I was asked to be at. Built in 1910 it wasn't exactly a castle, but it sure looked the part. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History was an odd place to meet with anyone of military background, in my opinion. "Of course," I think to myself, "they may not be." I don't have any idea as to who I'm meeting, for the moment. Which I hope changes soon, for I don't like surprises. The clock now read 1:42pm.

"Where is that bastard?" I mutter to myself, "they're nearly an hour late." I suddenly see the door of the museum swing open from my perch on a rather uncomfortable bench. A tall man dressed in a navy blue blazer over an untucked cotton jersey and jeans walked out. He had black hair and calm, stone grey eyes. His facial features suggested a Celtic heritage.

"Are you Ms. Storm Graves?" the man asked with his hand held out.

"That would be me," I said while grabbing his outstretched hand. We shared a short, formal handshake.

"My name is Grayson Pierce; Gray will do just fine, though. My boss is the one who sent me out here to retrieve you. If you'll please follow me." He turned around back inside the castle, obviously expecting me to follow. I had half a mind to turn around and go back to my hotel now, but then again, I wouldn't have been just sent here, right? I started towards the door.

"I really hope I don't regret this later," I said under my breath as I followed Gray inside.

Walking through the halls of the Smithsonian, I couldn't help but be a little self-conscious. I smoothed down the front of my sky blue blouse for the umpteenth time, I paid extra close attention to my walk so I wouldn't trip over my dark wash flare jeans, and I double checked that my shoulder length dirty blonde hair was still in its proper place in a messy bun atop my head. I thank the lord I don't wear much makeup, or else I would have to worry about that too. First impressions are rather important after all.

Ahead of me, Gray turned to the right and pulled out a loaded key ring from his pants pocket. The door he stood in front clearly stated in bold red letters, _Authorized Personnel Only_. Gray must have found the right key somewhere in that mess of a keychain (a very impressive feet in my opinion), for the door silently swung open. He motioned me inside. "Tell me again why I'm meeting someone _here_ of all places?" I think to myself as I am greeted by the sight of an ominous staircase.

"Our headquarters are located under the castle in a WWII bunker," I hear Gray say from behind me.

"Headquarters?" I give him a questioning look as we head down the steps.

"You'll find out soon enough." I really don't like that mischievous look he had in his eyes as he said that.

"Oh dear Lord up in heaven, I'm going to be raped and brutally murdered down here where they won't find my body for weeks, possibly months, aren't I?" is the only thing I can think at this moment. Apparently noticing my distress, and misinterpreting it, I heard Gray chuckle from my right. This, of course, only made me jump.

"Don't worry, we'll be their soon enough. Though the boss man might have a few odd quirks, he really isn't all that scary once you get to know him." Was this supposed to make me feel better?

"Well, I can't honestly say that makes me feel any better about these circumstances," I reply, "but thanks for trying anyway?" I took the last couple of steps onto the main landing. "Though, I am still extremely curious as to why I'm here in the first place."

"Well I'm not allowed to tell you anything just yet, so I guess you'll just have to trust me," he said with a grin. There was a short pause.

"Lovely," is all I reply. With a slight chuckle he started walking down the hallway to our left with me following closely behind. I made sure that I memorized every turn so that, in an emergency, I would know the way out. Force of habit I suppose. I didn't survive a near WWIII with nothing but good looks after all.

With one last turn, Gray came up to a door at the very end of the hallway. The name on the glass stated: Director Painter Crowe. "I guess this is the boss-man's office. I just hope he isn't like Peter," I think to myself as Gray knocks on the door. We hear a tired voice from inside.

"Come in." Without further ado, we step into the lion's den. My first impression of the man is that he obviously dislikes his desk job, and would much rather be out in the field. He had very tired blue eyes, and I large bottle of Advil sitting on his desk. Despite his blue eyes, he had a very angular face much like an American Indian. Also, he had one streak of grey in his hair that he tucked behind his ear. It reminded me of a feather. I already liked him. "You must be Storm, please take a seat," he motioned towards a rather comfortable looking leather chair. Gray took the one right next to it.

"Yes, that's me. Now can you explain that extremely cryptic letter that dragged me out of the warzone?" no reason to beat around the bush. He smiled at me.

"I think I just might be your guy," he replied, "You have been recruited to the organization we like to call Sigma." A few seconds passed. I must have looked really confused at this point.

"Ok, well, what exactly is Sigma?" Gray was the one who replied this time.

"In its simplest form, we are a team thrown together that only takes care of the most critical missions assigned to us be the DARPA. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. I'm sure you've heard of it." I have heard of it, but I've never thought that I would ever work for them. Politics really suck.

"So you're saying that you are some secret part of the government used to track down really bad guys?" I ask. Painter laughed.

"In a sense, yes, though, we are much more than that. We have a certain nickname amongst those who know about us. A large part of what we do makes us 'killer scientists.' In other words, we combine highly-skilled military operatives with expert scientists to get the job done. Anything that could pose as a serious threat to the United States is our responsibility to eradicate."

"Alright, so why did you decide to add me to the program?" I said this while thinking of my college degree for chemistry hanging on my wall and curse myself. I really only joined the army to pay off my student bills, it's too bad that I ended up liking that line of work.

"Your professor talks highly of you, he said that you had shown much potential in chemistry, and after we heard about how quickly you had risen to a Sergeant Major, we thought you would be an excellent addition. However, you can still refuse and go back to your outpost in Afghanistan," Painter said to me. I thought about it. Will I choose the heat over the much cooler Maryland climate? Should I stay with these oddly secretive people, or go back to having no secrets at all? Is Crowe a better leader than Peter? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.

"It's not like I have anything to lose coming here, so I guess you can count me in!" I smile at them.

"Excellent. Welcome to Sigma, Storm."

With those four simple words, my life was about to drastically change. The only question is: for the better, or worse?


End file.
